Self-portrait with Children. Or as a woman, a mother , an artist, what is ma place in the Western Art History ?

Abstract

The Master of Fine Arts thesis project consists of an artistic component comprising three different artworks. The first of one of them is a series of 20 photopolymer engravings, each measuring 20 x 30 cm and titled Free Mary, which attempts to liberate the Virgin Mary from patriarchal oppression throughout Western art history. The second piece is a large-scale, hyper-realistic charcoal drawing, measuring 192 x 120 cm, which is a Self-portrait with Children. In the third artwork, titled Past, Present, Future (Self-portrait with Children), the viewer can see the words 'profoundly intensively alone' embroidered on my grandmother's bedsheet. The piece measures 202 x 300 cm. All three were displayed as part of Kuvan Kevät 2025 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. The written component introduces my artistic practice in relation to my childhood. Having grownup in a dysfunctional family with a psychologically abusive father and deeply religious grandparents, this has had a profound impact on my artistic practice. Each chapter of my thesis revisits one of the pieces I presented at Kuvan Kevät 2025, exploring the artistic, philosophical and emotional connections running through my work. The focus of this text is my interrogation of Western art history and my place in it as woman, mother and artist.